Yoshino

Exquisitely presented, scrumptious Japanese food in a discreet location just off Piccadilly.
We sat downstairs which didn’t have quite as much atmosphere, and was cooler, than upstairs.
But, I loved the food. We came here for my mum’s birthday and all had the 3-​course set meal, comprising 9 little starters, a main and dessert for £39.50.
Standout starters for me were the crab tempura and the tuna. Tenderloin beef was on a par with Argentinian steak in the melt-​in-​the mouth factor, and was a generous portion.
The only slight fault, apart from being a little chilly, was the dessert. Neither the truffle or sorbet were anything special.
If I come back, I’ll be sticking firmly to the beautiful sushi and the succulent meat/​fish options.

Very disappointed, I read Unilocal reviews before I went, so I was prepared for a nice meal. It was horrifying, sushi was cold and broke as soon as it touched soy sauce. I don’t understand why anyone would go a second time

Never write reviews but this place is gorgeous — food is delicious, staff are so kind, spot on. Get the tiger prawn bbq thing ! delish.

Waste of money. For quality of fish, this restaurant is overpriced. Was served wasabi with hair in it. I would avoid this restaurant.

I was invited by a friend to this Japanese restaurant and I was in for a treat. The ambiance is quite romantic actually, so would be a nice spot for a date. Anyways, we weren’t here on one, we were here for the food!. I had the bento box that came with shrimp tempura, seaweed tuna salad, miso soup and sushi rolls. All for 25£. A bit on the more expensive side but totally worth it.
My friend had a bottle of sake, and many different appetizers that just seemed like a lot of food. Our bill was on the high end so be ready to spend some cash.
Service is top notch.

Solid spot overall. Just squeaks into 4-​star land.
The food is quite good. We had the seaweed salad, the 15-​piece meat sushi sampler, beef tenderloin and green tea tiramisu. Everything was well made and extremely tasty. The value was decent.
The service was very courteous and efficient. Although, the place was almost empty (just my partner and me plus two other groups of two people) so the servers certainly weren’t strained.
They also have a nice range of sake and a handful of lagers.
A good place to get a sushi fix.

Une très bonne adresse pour manger des plats japonais (pas QUE des sushis).
La salle est très sobre, mais le service très classe. Des ingrédients d’une rare qualité (premium salmon, wagyu beef) et une présentation à l’image du restaurant. Il né faut pas se fier au «coupe gorge» qu’est la rue où il se situe.

I ate here while on a business trip. It had all the ambience of a high end sushi spot, but the sushi I was served was pre-​made and basically tasted like something you might get at the grocery store. I had also ordered a hand roll — something that is very common at sushi restaurants, although not listed on the menu here. It tasted fresher than the cut rolls I had ordered, but on my bill there appeared a £6.8 «open kitchen» charge, apparently to compensate for the fact that it was made when I ordered it! What a concept!
There is a benihana about a block away. I bet those guys would never dare to serve you sushi from a saran-​wrapped tray from the fridge…

No shiso. No freshly ground wasabi. And please don’t put sashimi on ice — it’s too cold, and damp.
Takeaway sushi seems like good value. Don’t bother sitting down.

The best sushi I have found in London so far. Extremely fresh and really good service. The waitress recommended us a sake that was incredible. Can’t wait to go back!

Lovely place, beautifully presented dishes, superb service.

Very conveniently located 2 streets away from the circus of Picadilly lies this gem of a Japanese restaurant, tucked away in a hidden corner.
The service is class, and so is the ingredients/​quality of food. I stayed away from the Westernized Japanese food (fried stuff and anything that could mask the real taste of raw fresh fish) and dived right into the real deal. The waitress told me the chirashi is the signature dish. Bingo. Always can judge a Japanese restaurant at how good their chirashi dish is. Anyone who knows me well knows I love doing this. Challenge accepted!
The sashimi and rice set — absolute beauty and freshness. A must have. I begged them not to waste food and give me half the portion of rice; which not only they followed but even half a portion was still very generous! It was laid out in such a beautiful and tasteful/​tasty fashion. Look at the photo to see it for yourself!
The fish was of top quality and so was the shrimp. Class and quality all the way. The sushi rice was the PERFECT temperature (lukewarm); and the sushi was served on top of ice — so that the fish would not be half scored from the lukewarm rice. Nicely laid out. A plus for this. The sushi rice was laced with perfectly cut tiny portion of greens sprinkled with roe. Delish!
The «1^st picking» green tea is of exceptional quality and brewed with plentiful tea leaves. The desert menu is simple but do try the green tea tiramisu if it’s there.
Lastly but not least the ambiance upstairs is contemporary, calm yet simple. Not a lot of seating so do reserve if it’s nice sunny weekend.

Disclaimer: this refers only to the take out counter; I have not been to the restaurant.
I used to take out from here when I first moved to London; I was working near their counter/​restaurant just off Piccadilly and we made company trips out of it — buying the bulk packs across different flavours in order to have a varied meal. And that worked out well; you certainly got a lot of fish for your money.
About 2 years later however and the portions started to be scaled back, but not the price. The morsels of fish you do get started to taste a little strange at times; certainly not the freshest cuts and also rather fatty compared to elsewhere.
One of the interesting things with Yoshino is there slightly different take on some sushi pieces — for example their «Super Fried Chicken» and Spicy Chicken is essentially katsu chicken pieces with mayo/​something in a roll. Which is actually quite nice, despite how it sounds. However it’s sad that I need to rely on an a gimmick (or indeed, chicken) for a sushi restaurant to supply something worthwhile at their takeaway counter.

The restaurant is even better than the take-​away place. The food is so good and fairly cheap. Go!

Came here for a business lunch today, at the recommendation of one my sales guys.
The sushi was of excellent quality… went for the tiger prawn tempura and nigiri sushi combo, chased down with salmon sashimi and unagi. All very tasty.
The green tea is a bit weird… super powdery and thick… almost soup like in consistency… like the beginning of a starbuck’s green tea latte, if you know what i’m sayin’.
The miso soup was excellent.
All in all, a great experience, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Picadilly Circus, a quiet haven of sushi heaven.
I recommend.

I still like Yoshino but after recently discovering that they no longer offer the chicken katsu curry at lunch (at all?) it’s hard for me to rate their lunch with five stars. I adored that curry and Yoshino just isn’t the same without it.

Very very good, especially for that money.
€ 140 for 5 people. It was a big lunch… and (even) the kids loved it.

Un japonais authentique avec des bentos originaux, un poisson très frais et un riz au nori et à l’omelette super bon (dans le menu sashimi du soir)

I’ve been to Yoshino a few times now but the last time was 2 years ago. I know… quite a long hibernation. Last night I tried the Tsuki set meal with my friend Takeshi and we were both treated with palatable and exciting creations.
I really enjoyed the lot especially the tuna carpaccio. The flavour did not overpower the natural taste of thin tuna sashimi topped with herbs that were perfect garnish.
Another part of the set is the prawn tempura. The sauce gave a good compliment to three battered prawns.
The miso soup was added with a prawn’s head and the awesome taste reminded me of a particular soup meal that my mum used to make for me back home.
The work-​of-​art award belongs to the carefully and thin cut jumbo California roll. How they managed to put the ingredients together to amazing effect deserves recognition for a set meal that only cost £20 (excluding drinks and service). I paired my entire meal with a good dry Spanish white wine.
I’m already thinking about when I can revisit Yoshino Restaurant. I’m sure it will be sooner this time.

I tried Yoshino for the first time a couple of months ago. I was using the Unilocal mobile application and initially it routed me to an airline office on Piccadilly and was utterly confused! I’m glad that the map is updated now.
I walked in around dinner time and it was strangely quiet. I almost fell like I was disturbing the peace. I didn’t have reservations so they seated us on the ground floor.
We ordered a variety of dishes like the combination rolls, the fried chicken, yakitori and tempura. Every dish was remarkably delicious… but definitely served Japanese style portions. I don’t mind such small portions but you’re left leaving a little hungry and thinking of hitting up Marks and Spencers for a sandwich. I’m definitely not rushed to come back here for dinner but I think I’d definitely give it another try for lunch.

What an amazing place! The food was delicious (to the second power); the service super-​friendly and the atmosphere buzzing but yet calm…
When we entered Yoshino during a typical London lunch hour, the only seats available were those at the bar; but in the end this was what made this dining experience ever so memorable to me, as we could watch the sushi chefs doing their magic right in front of us.
Once we had made ourselves comfortable, I perused the menu for a while and I could definitely feel my saliva glands working overtime… everything sounded so delicious. In the end, I went for a lunch deal (Yoshino Zen «Yuki»), which turned out to be just perfect; in fact, for a mere £9.80 I was pleasantly has how generous and diverse the portion was. But more importantly, the quality and the taste of my food was amazing:
The chicken katsu was crisp and the accompanying curry sauce complemented it very well. The honyed potatoes tasted great, as did the green beans… not to mention the tuna, the rolls, the miso soup, and the pickles…
In short: Yoshino made me very happy!!!

Domo Arigato Mr. Delicious.
I’m not concerned with anything at the moment because I am in such a shiny, happy, tummy-​taping love coma from the amazing Japanese food I just devoured.
Katsu curry, sticky rice, honey potatoes, sesame green beans, miso soup, edamame and some of the most melt-​in-​my-​mouth salmon sashimi I’ve indulged in outside of Japan were beautifully presented in front of me. What commenced can only be described as dirty — an every Unilocaler for him/​herself mentality of chop-​sticking, slurping, scraping, stuffing and chomping our ways through three amazingly different, yet equally fantastic authentic Japanese cuisine.
You know the feeling when you just don’t want a meal to end? Or you just want your stomach to be a bottomless abyss that never fills simply so that you can keep tasting all of the glory that you’re putting into it? Then head immediately to Yoshino. You’ll find that lovin’ feeling here.